Electric apparatus



A. G. DAMM ELECTRIC APPARATUS Filed Aug. 31. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l,

March 27, 1928.

A. e. DAMM ELECTRIC APPARATUS Filed Aug- 31. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented 1' aavm on n r O17 BONNINGE, BWED.

ELECTRIC APPATUS.

I Application filed August 81, 1925, Serial No. 58,628, and in SwedenJune 87,

In In U. S. Patent Nos. 1,502,376 and 1,540,10? I have shown anddescribed an apparatus for producing cipher documents in which I makeuse of two cylinders (ciphering cylinders) which during the cipheringoperation are adjusted intermittently in re lation to each other. Eachof said cylinders has the same number of contact pins, contact rings andconnections therebetwee'n as the number of signs of the series of signsused or the number of keys of the sender key board. On account thereofsaid cylinders are rather expensive and diflicult to manufacture.

The object of the present invention is to simplify the construction ofsaid ciphering cylinders so that they may be made of a smaller size andat lower costs than the old cylinders. At the same time the advantagewill be attained that their movements owing to the reduced mass and thereduction of the number of points of friction may be accomplished at ahi her speed and with a lower consumption 0 electric energy thanheretofore.

The essential feature of the invention resides in this that the saidmembers or ciphering cylinders have together such a number of contactrings and corresponding contact pins that the number of contact rings ofthe one cylinder multiplied by the number of contact rings of the othercylinder will give a product which corresponds to the number of signs ofthe series of signs used, the contacts operated by the keys of thesender key board being arranged in groups the number of whichcorresponds to the number of contact rings of the one ciphering cylinderand which are electrically connected to the other ciphering cylinder insuch a manner that each contact ring of the latter is in connection withone contact of each of said grou s of contacts while the contact pins oft e saidother cylinder are in engagement with contact pins provided in afixed contact supporter and connected in such a manner to theelectromagnetic members of the cipher typewriter or perforator, whichmembers are likewise arranged in groups, that each contact pin isconnected to one electromaf etic member of each group of such members,all electromagnetic members of each group-being connectible by means ofa group relay to a contact ring of the first mentioned cipheringcylinder, said contact ring being connected by a conductor to thewinding of g each of t the other five.

said group relay which winding in its turn is direct connected to thesource of electric current, the contact pins of said first mentionedciphering contact in of a fixed contact supporter,

e contact pins of this contact supporter being connected to one of anumber of contacts each one of which is arranged to be operated by anyone of the keys of a group of keys of the sender key b ard.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown diagrammatically one embodimentof my invention to be used in connection with a series of si ns composedof 20 difi'erent slgns. In suc case the one ciphering cylinder has forinstance four contact rings and Fig. 1. is a diagram, Fig. 2 1s adiagrammatic side View of a key of the sender key board and the contactsoperated by the same, and Fi 3 is a side view of the one cylinder and te corresponding fixed contact supporter shown partially in section.Figs. 4 and 5 show end views of the ciphering cylinders.

For each key of the sender key board, i. e. the key board operated inaccordance with the text given (in ciphering) or the ci her (indeciphering) a contact Is -Ja ig. 1) is provided, which is closed whenthe corresponding key is depressed. All said contacts can be connectedfor instance to the positive pole of a source of current S through aconductor 19 and a conductor 19 by closing a contact g, hereinafterdescribed. Further said contacts are connected in groups to brushes b,bbearing against the ciphering cylinder 0 In the example shown the firstcontact to the left of each group of five contacts, 10,, 71: 70,, 7.1and k is connected to the brush 6, through a conductor 1. The secondcontact of each group, 10 Ic k It, and k is connected to the brush 6through a conductor 2. The third contact of each group, k 70,, k 70 andk is connected to the brush 6, through a conductor 3, while the fourthcontact of each group, 70,, it 70 k and I7 is connected to the brush 6through a conductor 4. The ciphering cylinder 0 consist as in the priorpatents referred to above of metal rings 13, 1' 1' 1' separated fromeach other by insulating material 2'. The brushes ti -6 hear eachagainst one of said metal rin o' r,, while the latter are each connectedto a contactpin si -s disposed in the insulatmg end piece a of theclphering cylinder 0.

cylinder engaging each a Bearing against said contact pins 8 8 arecontact pins' 12 disposed in a fixed contact supporter n, of insulatingmaterial. The ciphering cylinder 0 is rotatably journaled and adapted tobe rotated stepwise, each step corresponding to one fourth of arevolution. It may be rotated by means of a solenoid 4 to the core 4 ofwhich is pivotally connected a dpawl 4", enga ing a ratchet wheel 4 ri i1y secured to the cylinder C. The said so cnoid may be excited b similarmeans to those described in my U. Patent No. 1,502,376 with res ect tothe solenoids S, and S One end of tiie winding of the solenoid 4 isconnected through a conductor 24 to the negative pole of the source ofcurrent S, while the other end of said winding is connected through awire 25 to a contact 70,, which by a wire 26 is connected to theconductor 19 The contact 70,, is operated by a rotary disc N, having atits circumference a number of projections u adapted to close the contactis. when passing the same as described in my U. S. Patent No. 1,502,376.

The electromagnetic members which in accordance with the Patent No.1,502,376 serve to depress the keys of the cipher t pewriter orperforator and are indicate by ca -e in Fig. 1 are on the one handconnected in groups to the contact pins of the fixed contact supportern, and can on the other hand be connected in groups to brushes 6 -6,,bearing against the ciphering cylinder C". The connection between thecontact pins p of the fixed contact supporter n, and the electromagneticmembers e -e,, is analogous with the connection between the brushes b,band the contacts k,-lc the said electromagnetic members being connectedin groups with the contact pins 1) through conductors 5, 6, 7 8. Theelectromagnetic members e,-e are arranged in five groups each comprisingfour members. The first member to the right of each group, e e e,, 6 and6 is connected to one of the contact pins p through the conductor 5. Thesecond electromagnetic member of each group, e 6 c 6, and 6, isconnected to another of said contact pins p through the conductor 6,while the conductors 7 and 8 connect the third and the fourthelectromagnetic member of each group with the two other contact pins p-All electromagnetic members of each group e,-e., ea -e e,e,,, e ,e,, ande .,e can be connected by means of a cup relay R R R R and Rrespectlvely with a conductor 9,10, 11, 12 and 13 respectively andthereby'each, with one of the brushes 5,, b 12,, 1),, b, bearing againstthe ciphering cylinder C". The windings of said relays are indicated byRM,, RM RM RM and RM Said windings are each connected to the positivepole of the source of current S and to one of the conductors 9,10, 11,12 and 18. The ciphering cylinder C" is com osed of five contact rings7",, 1' 12,, 1' an 'r, insulated from one another and each connected toone of contact pins s .,--s, disposed in the insulating end piece of theciphering cylinder C" at equal distance from one another. The cipherincylinder C" may be rotated b means 0% a solenoid 5 to the core 5" ofwhic is pivotally connected a pawl 5 engagin a ratchet wheel 5 rigidlysecured to the cy 1nder C". The said solenoid may be excited by similarmeans as those described in my U. Patent No. 1,502,376 with respect tosolenoids S and 8,. One end of the winding of the solenoid 5 isconnected through a conductor 20 to the negative pole of the source ofcurrent S, while the other end of said winding is connected through awire 29 to a contact 7a,, which by a wire 28 is connected to theconductor 19. The contact k is operated by a disc N having at itscircumference a number of rojectlons 20 adapted to close the contact inpassing the same. The disc N is rotated by means of a solenoid N a pawland a ratchet wheel in the same manner as the disc N in my U. S. PatentNo. 1,502,376 is rotated by means of the solenoid S and serve to rotatethe disc N by means of a suitable gearing. The winding of the saidsolenoid N is connected through a wire 27 to the conductor 19 andthrough a wire 30 to the conductor 24. Against each of said contact pins8 -8,, 2. contact pin P is hearing. Said contact pins p, are provided ina fixed contact supporter n, of insulating material and each of them isconnected through a conductor 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 to a contact g g g gand 9 respectively, connected to the negative pole of the source ofcurrent S through a conductor 20. Each of the contacts g,--g,, is soarranged that it will be closed'when any one of the keys of thecorresponding group of keys is depressed. For this purpose each of thecontacts g,- 5 may be actuated by means of a pivoted arm 21, Fig. 2,supporting a rod 22 which extends along a group of keys. The contact 9is actuated by a pivoted arm 31, Fig. 2. supporting a rod 32 whichextends along the group of rods 21, so that the contact g, will beclosed every time any one of the keys of the sender board is depressed.When any one of the keys is depressed, only one of the electromagneticmembers e,e, will be excited. This will be evident from the following.If, for instance. the key corres ending to the contact is, be depressedsai contact and also the contact g, will be closed. The current nowpasses from the positive pole of the source of current S throughconductor 19, contact 9,, conductor 19' contact 70,, conductor 3, brush6,, contact ring 1', contact pin 3,, and thereupon, depending on theposition of the ciphering cylinder C in relation to the fixed contactsupporter n,, through one of the conductors 58, for instance 8, andfurther through the last electromagnetic member of that group of suchmembers the winding of which is in connection with the contact 9 throughthe ciphering cylinder C and back to the negative pole of the source ofcurrent. At the same time current flows from the positive pole of thesource of current S through conductor 19, contact 9 conductor 19 wire27, solenoid N wire 30 and conductor 24 to the negative pole of thesource of current. The solenoid N, thus attracts its core. When the keydepressed is released, the contact 7 and g, are broken, and the core ofthe solenoid N thus turns the discs N, and N,, thereby closingmomentarily one or both of the contact 70,, and It the contact 75,, beclosed, current flows from the positive pole of the source of current Sthrough conductor 19, wire 26, contact k wire 25, solenoid 4 andconductor 24 to the negative pole of the source of current. The solenoid4 thus turns the cylinder C" one step. If the contact 70 be closed,current flows from the positive pole of the source of current throughconductor 19, Wire 28, contact 7%,, wire 29, solenoid 5, and conductor20 to the negative pole of the source of current. The solenoid 5 thusturns the cylinder C one step.

Though the ciphering cylinders described above have a very small numberof contact rings compared with the ciphering cylinders described in mypatents referred to above it is possible by means of the same tosubstitute for any arbitrary sign of the series of signs used any othersign of said series.

What I claim is:

1. In an electric ciphering apparatus of the kind set forth thecombination of a source of electric current, a sender key board, acipher typewriter or perforator, electric contacts operated by the keysof said sender key board, electrical connections between said contactsand the said source of electric current. two ciphering cylinders,electricah connections between said contacts and the one of saidciphering cylinders, electromagnetic members adapted to actuate the keysof said cipher typewriter or perforator, the ciphering cylinders havingtogether such a number of contact rings that the number of contact ringsof the one cylinder multiplied by the number of contact rings of theother cylinder will give a product which corresponds to the number ofsigns of the series of signs used, the contacts operated by the keys ofsaid sender key board being arranged in groups the number of whichcorresponds to the number of contact rings of the one of said cipheringcylinders, said groups of contacts being connected in such a manner tothe contact rings of the other cipherin cylinder that one contact ofeach group 0% contacts is in connection with one of the contact rings ofsaid-other ciphering cylinder, contact pins provided in the latter, afixed contact supporter, contact pins in the latter each engaging one ofthe contact pins of said other ciphcring cylinder, electricalconnections between the contact pins of said contact supporter and thesaid electromagnetic members the latter being connected groupwise to thecontact pins of said contact supporter in such a manner that eachcontact pin is connected to one electromagnetic member of each group ofsuch members, group relays each adapted to connect one group ofelectromagnetic members with one of the contact rings of thefirstmentioned ciphering cylinder, said contact ring being connected tothe winding of said group relay, said winding being connected to thesaid source of electric current, and electric contacts each adapted tobe actuated by any one of a roup of keys of the said sender key boardand each being connected to a contact ring of the firstmentionedciphering cylinder.

2. In an electric ciphering apparatus, a source of current, a sender keyboard divided into groups of keys, a recording device whose recordingelements are divided into similar groups, a ciphering cylinder betweenthe keyboard and recording device, contacts in said cylinder eachconnected to a key of each group of keys, stationary contactscooperating with the cylinder contacts and each connected to a recordingelement of each group of recording elements, a second cylinder havingcontacts each arranged for connec-. tion to an entire group of recordingelements, a group connector for each group of recording elementselectrically connected to one pole of the source of current and to acontact on said second cylinder, stationary contacts cooperating withthe contacts on said second cylinder, a group of contacts eachcorresponding to a group of keys and operated by any key of thecorresponding group, each of said latter contacts connected to the otherpole of the current source and to the stationary'contactsfor said secondcylinder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ARVID GERHARD DAMM.

